Planner peace, unicorn, the perfect planner, all things that we dream about to organize our life.  Well, I am going to talk to you about the perfect planner.  What I am not going to do is tell you what is the perfect planner.  I’ve read many blog posts and I’ve watched many YouTube videos.  I have a Pinterest board and belong to groups on Facebook.  I’ve used the same system for years, and now I’m lost (or at least I was).

Erin Condren Life Planner

What has the last two years lacking planner peace taught me, my perfect planner is for me only.  What is perfect for me won’t be perfect for you.  So I am going to help you find what you are looking for in your planner system.

Questions:

First and foremost, you have to ask yourself, what do I need to keep track of and what do I need to plan.  Will I keep work and home separate, or will the system be combined.  How do you think? How do you organize other areas of your life?  Do you want to carry your planner with you?  There isn’t a right, wrong, or trendy answer.  This is all about you!  When do we ever get to say it is all about me!

Options:

There is a bullet journal (see Ryder Carroll), daily calendar, weekly calendar, and monthly calendar.  Beyond these categories you will find a multitude of methods to organize them.

Electronic (phone, computer, or tablet) This method is great and can be used alone or with other methods.  Things to consider, are you technologically savvy?  Will anyone else have access to your calendar?  Will you be able to find what you are looking for quickly?  Do you have a backup method?

Bound planners are contained.  They could get fatter if you embellish them, but otherwise, you will know what the size will be at the end.  Depending on the size you buy, you will know where and how you can carry your planner (in your bag, in your pocket, or on your desk).  Bound planners come in endless sizes, bindings, and page formulations.  You can custom order or pick one up at your local store.  They come in every color in the rainbow and just as many patterns.

Midori Passport

Binder planners (whether rings or arcs) are very customizable and you can change your planner as your needs change.  If your current setup is not working, you can quickly change it.  Binders can come from local stores or from planner companies.  You can get a multitude of sizes with a variety of options.  Now, you can keep adding to a binder, this means it can become REALLY fat.

Color Crush Planner

With paper planners, you can design a planner you love and will match your way of thinking and your personal style.  Whether it is bound or a binder, it can still be customized to your needs.  Etsy, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube offers many ideas to design the planner of your dreams.  However, if you don’t use your planner, no matter how beautiful and well laid out, it won’t work.

Created planner using Moleskine

Deciding your layout:

Do you think in lists, graphs, or pictures?  Do you need a birdseye view?  Do you need details? Are you working for your planner, or is it working for you?  Planners can certainly be a hobby, and a useful one at that.  Getting Organized Magazine has a great post of tips to keep in mind when using a planner. http://www.gettingorganizedmagazine.com/2014/04/29/10-tips-for-using-a-planner-2/

Next post:  What I chose and why.